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[0:00] We have been going through the Beatitudes, one Beatitude at a time, one statement of blessing and happiness at a time in Matthew chapter 5. Today we are on the seventh Beatitude in verse 9, but I'll read verse 1 to 12.

[0:16] But before I do that, let me pray for the reading and preaching of God's Word. Heavenly Father, you are the God of peace, and you have made peace for us by the blood of your only Son, Jesus Christ.

[0:41] So Lord, make that reality, that peace that no one can take from us, grip our lives. And change our hearts. And even today, even this very moment, address us from your Word and by your Word, transform us more and more to be peacemakers.

[1:09] We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Please stand if you're able to honor God as we read from his Word, Matthew 5, verses 1 to 12. Amen.

[1:20] for they shall be satisfied.

[1:51] Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

[2:05] blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake for theirs is the kingdom of heaven blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account rejoice and be glad for your reward is great in heaven for so they persecuted the prophets who are before you this is god's holy and authoritative word you may be seated there has never been in a period there's never been a hit period in history in recorded history at least that has been completely free of wars there have been periods of relative peace and stability for example historians often talk about the Pax Romana the Roman peace between 27 BC and 180 CE when the Roman Empire dominated the world and enforced stability but even during that time there were the Roman Parthian Wars and the many Jewish revolts that were brutally crushed and suppressed by the Roman Empire some people point to the Pax Mongolica the Mongolian peace in the 13th and 14th centuries when Genghis Khan's conquest and the ensuing domination of the Mongolian Empire enforced peace along the peace along the Silk Road but even during that time there was the Mongolian invasion of Japan and the extended war against the Mamluks in the Middle East and that's not even counting the civil wars within the Mongolian Empire some people point to the heyday of the the British Empire the Pax Britannica but even during that time there was the war against China the opium wars against China the Crimean War against Russia and of course American Civil War against Russia and of course American Civil War was happening during that time we haven't yet had a World War III but the world has still been plagued by wars the Vietnam War Korean War Soviet African War the numerous Arab Israeli wars the Gulf War Iraq War Rwandan genocide civil war second Congo war Chinese Civil War and the ongoing Russo Ukrainian war and I'm just scratching the surface of the wars that have taken place there has never been a period in recorded human history that has been free of wars and that is no exaggeration but why nobody claims to want war and everybody claims to want peace so why can't we have peace we find God's answer and solution in the seventh beatitude blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called sons of God ultimately this passage teaches us that we are peacemakers because our heavenly father has made peace with us in Jesus Christ and I'm going to talk about that first by defining what peace is and then we'll talk about peacemaking what that entails and then we'll finally talk about the prince of peace who enables us to have peace we all know that peace is the opposite of war and the Bible often makes that contrast and uses that contrast when there is peace there is an absence of conflict absence of strife but peace in biblical terms is also more than that it's deeper than simply an absence of conflict for example in Genesis 43 27 when Joseph meets his brothers who come to Egypt to buy grain it says that he inquired about their welfare and said is your father well the old man of whom you spoke is he still alive and in that questioning the word welfare is the same Hebrew word for peace so peace is not just an absence of conflict but it can mean well-being wholeness welfare it's the Hebrew word shalom which many of you have heard before and this sense of well-being isn't merely about physical health and well-being either it's about relational well-being making covenant with someone in the Old Testament was often called making peace with someone so if you have peace with somebody then you are in a right relationship with that person and in that sense peace is different from a mere truce or a ceasefire because even when there is no open fire or open conflict the relationship between peoples and nations can be deeply disturbed and disordered for example think about the Korean War which ended in 1953 with the signing of the Korean Armistice Agreement it divided Korea into two halves North and South Korea and then it established a demilitarized zone in the middle along the 38th parallel but is that peace?

[7:29] there is no peace they are still divided they are still enemies there is still hostility between the two nations they are still they are waging a war of propaganda and posturing they are building up their respective militaries and securing themselves against the other it's merely a frozen conflict it's a cold war but it's a war nonetheless there is no peace Israel and Hamas currently have a truce in place actually may have just expired today I forget exactly when it expires but that's no peace either war threatens to break out any minute peace goes deeper than a mere truce or a ceasefire it entails right relationship restoration reconciliation and the most important peace that the Bible speaks of is peace with God God himself says of his people in Ezekiel 34 25

[8:31] I will make with them a covenant of peace Isaiah 54 10 says my steadfast love shall not depart from you and my covenant of peace shall not be removed to have peace with God then is to be in right relationship with him to have a covenant with him and to have his loyal steadfast covenantal love upon us to have peace then in a full biblical sense is to fit into God's order and plan to be restored to wholeness and right relationship with him and it's only through that restored relationship vertically with God that there can be restored relationship horizontally with others it's a peace ultimately that comes from God the peace that can only be attained with God's help and therefore is impossible to attain apart from him that's why God is often called the God of peace or the Lord of peace and when Gideon builds an altar to honor him and to worship him he calls that altar the Lord is peace in Judges 6 24 and that's why the fruit of the spirit and you guys know is love joy peace this is not a natural attribute or a temperament or an aspect of personality that we have naturally this is something that is spirit given

[10:02] God given spirit born fruit that marks the born again Christian that's what all of these beatitudes are our understanding of peace has implications for how we understand what it means to be a peacemaker first let's talk about what peacemaking is not and then secondly we'll talk about what peacemaking is since peace is more than a simple absence of conflict but having your life rightly ordered before God and being in restored to right relationship with him peacemaking is not merely avoiding conflict some people are naturally easygoing and they are conflict averse I think we have a lot of those in our church I don't know if that's Cambridge or something else but that doesn't necessarily make us peacemakers if you seek peace at any price then you're eventually going to pay a price that's too high for you to pay

[11:04] British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain is a famous example of this in 1938 Nazi Germany invaded Czechoslovakia France at the time had an alliance with the Czech Republic that they were obligated to honor they should have come to their aid however along with Neville Chamberlain the British Prime Minister and the French leaders they decided to appease Adolf Hitler by formally requesting that Czechoslovakia cede the territory that Germany had seized and powerless to do anything else they did cede that territory to Germany and that agreement is called the Munich Agreement but the Czechs call it the Munich Betrayal did they keep a semblance of peace?

[11:56] yes they did but it was a peace built on injustice and is it any wonder why that peace didn't last?

[12:08] Adolf Hitler was emboldened by the cowardice of the European leaders and then proceeded to invade Poland in 1939 starting World War II and World War II didn't end until Neville Chamberlain was replaced by someone with more backbone you may have heard of Winston Churchill if we subvert righteousness in the name of so-called peace then we are peace fakers not peacemakers that makes us appeasers in Jeremiah 6 14 to 15 God denounces the false prophets and false peacemakers of Israel because they condoned the people's idolatry their sins against God and then yet they promised peace God's not going to judge you don't worry you'll have peace in the future and God denounces them and rejects them and says this about them they have healed the wound of my people lightly saying peace peace when there is no peace you cannot have true peace if you are forsaking the kingdom of God if you're forsaking the righteousness of God how can an idolatrous people have peace with God?

[13:32] contrast those false prophets with Jehu in 2 Kings 9 17 to 22 Jehu is anointed to be king by an emissary of prophet Elisha and he is anointed by God to go and avenge the blood of his prophets and servants whom Jezebel and Ahab and their household killed and so Jehu is riding furiously on his chariot going to exact vengeance on Jehu's sorry on Jezebel's son Joram King Joram Queen Mother Jezebel was still alive at this time and as he is riding to the palace these messengers come out repeatedly asking him tell us Jehu is it peace?

[14:19] peace? and then he keeps going he doesn't stop eventually he gets to King Joram and King Joram asks him is it peace Jehu?

[14:30] and then Jehu tells him what peace can there be so long as the hoardings and the sorceries of your mother Jezebel are so many there can be no peace in the presence of idolatry and wickedness peace at the expense of truth and justice is not peace it's compromise the idols must be struck down and righteousness must reign then and only then can we have true peace this explains the tension we see in Jesus' person and message on the one hand we see repeatedly the New Testament telling us that Jesus came to earth to bring peace at his birth the angels announced glory in the highest and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased as he enters Jerusalem in Luke 19 42 Jesus weeps over this unrepentant city saying would that you even you had known on this day the things that make for peace but now they are hidden from your eyes bringing peace was

[15:36] Jesus' mission and so he says to his disciples in John 14 27 peace I leave with you my peace I give to you not as the world gives do I give to you let not your hearts be troubled neither let them be afraid so Jesus came to bring peace but on the other hand Jesus has this to say in Matthew 10 34 to 37 do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth I have not come to bring peace but a sword for I have come to set a man against his father and a daughter against her mother and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law and a person's enemies will be those of his own household whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me so which is it did Jesus come to make peace or to bring a sword the answer is both he brings the offer of true peace but if our family members and friends reject Jesus then our ultimate allegiance must be to him and not to them that creates a disturbance it creates divisions that's the sword that Jesus is talking about but if you try to keep peace at the expense of truth than righteousness then you're not making peace you're just selling out it is no coincidence that the eighth beatitude which comes after this is blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness this is also why the sixth beatitude precedes this one blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God only after that the purity of heart do we get blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called sons of God the importance of that order is confirmed by James 3 17 which says the wisdom from above is first pure then peaceable gentle open to reason the wisdom of God is first pure then peaceable and that order is not incidental it's only the pure in heart who will one thing who desire one thing to please their Lord their God who can be true peacemakers because if you're seeking to please yourself or if you're seeking to please others you will never have peace in your life if your first goal is to keep peace at all costs you will never have true peace 18th century theologian

[18:16] Jonathan Edwards explains this in his book The Nature of True Virtue he says private affection if not subordinate to general affection is not only liable to issue and enmity to being in general but has a tendency to it and he gives an example that makes it a little clearer when a man is governed by a regard to his own private interest independent of regard to the public good such a temper exposes a man to act the part of an enemy to the public as in every case wherein his private interest seems to clash with the public is that not true?

[18:55] if our highest objective is our own private interest then wherever our private interest is at odds with the public good we're going to be a public enemy if our highest allegiance is to our class or to a political party or to a race or to a nation or to a gender then naturally we will be classist racist chauvinist and sexist let me put it another way how do you get an orchestra of 50 something people to play harmoniously together not by having the various sections of the orchestra the strings the woodwinds the brass the percussions all play at their own rhythm and pace and key we also do not accomplish that by having every individual musician watch every other musician and try to match and sync up with them that would lead to chaos and cacophony we get an orchestra to play harmoniously together by having all of them follow the baton of the one conductor similarly as long as we are looking out for our own interests or the interests of our own factions as long as our driving motivation in life is what's in it for me or what's in it for us there will never be peace in our personal relationships or in the world because everybody else is doing the same thing and our desires are in conflict with each other

[20:40] James 4 1-2 teaches us what causes quarrels and what causes fights among you is it not this that your passions are at war within you you desire and do not have so you murder you covet and cannot obtain so you fight and quarrel this is the root of all conflict there will be no end to warring nations as long as there are warring passions between persons but if our overriding concern is instead our father in heaven hallowed be your name your kingdom come and your will be done on earth as it is in heaven if our highest objective in life is to please the one true God who is over all and through all and in all then we can have true peace and unity among all peoples in his book shining like stars the power of the gospel in the world's universities Lindsay Brown the former CEO of international fellowship of evangelical students illustrates this reality during the Burundi genocide in the early 90s a number of Tutsis were killed on campus of Bujumbura University by the Hutus imagine intentional murder happening on your university campuses and many of the Tutsis out of fear fled to the mountains during that time some Hutu Christians chased after followed after these Christian

[22:10] Tutsis who had fled to the mountains and they brought them food and clothing took care of them comforted them and many of these courageous Hutu Christians were disowned by their own family members because they chose to put their Christian allegiance their allegiance to Christ above their allegiance to their ethnic group and because of that experience the non-Christian president of Bujumbura University in Burundi made this extraordinary remark our culture is disintegrating on our campus there are three groups of people Hutus Tutsis and Christians if our culture is to survive we must follow the example of the Christians the source of all conflicts and wars in the world ultimately is that sinful desire and when desire has conceived it gives birth to sin and when sin it is fully grown it brings forth death the only way to make ultimate peace then is not negotiations not diplomacy but conversions the only way to get ultimate peace is to have people surrender to the lordship of Christ and to submit their passions and desires to God and it's when the gospel of Jesus Christ transforms them from the inside out to seek

[23:51] God's will rather than their own wills their own private interests that's the only path to true peace 20th century Walsh pastor D. Martin Lloyd-Jones concurs he says if every man and woman in the world knew what it was to hunger and thirst after righteousness there would be no danger of war here is the only way to real peace all other considerations eventually do not touch the problem and all the denunciations that are so constantly made of various countries and peoples and persons will not have the slightest effect upon the international situation the greatest need in the world now is for a greater number of Christians individual Christians if all nations consisted of individual Christians there would be no need to fear atomic power or anything else so the gospel which seems to be so remote and indirect in its approach is actually the most direct way of solving the problem one of the greatest tragedies in the life of the church today is the way in which so many are content with these vague general useless statements about war and peace instead of preaching the gospel in all its simplicity and purity so few have the theological clarity that D. Martin

[25:09] Lowe Jones had it's because of this that Martin Lowe Jones understood that because he understood this that he was not really enthused or excited or impressed when the Kellogg Pact was signed how many of you guys know what the Kellogg Pact is it's not surprising because it's pretty irrelevant at this point the Kellogg Pact was an international agreement on peace signed in 1928 the signing states promised not to use war to resolve disputes or conflicts of whatever nature 15 nations signed it including the U.S.

[25:49] the U.K. France Germany Italy and Japan among others and at the time it was celebrated worldwide really as a pact that will outlaw war forever Lloyd Jones shocked his contemporary pastors with his lack of enthusiasm about the Kellogg Pact his colleagues wanted to talk about nothing but the Kellogg Pact this is a momentous occasion he was out okay yeah he just insisted on continuing to proclaim the gospel because he understood this and Lloyd Jones has been proven right by history because the three of the signatories who signed the Kellogg Pact started World War II just a short decade later and he hasn't really prevented much wars ever since either Lloyd

[26:51] Jones understood the profound reality that the root of conflict is sinful heart is sinful desires in our hearts we can be and this is why this is important we can be tempted to think in our present climate that the negotiators of the Israeli Hamas ceasefire what they are doing or what President Trump is attempting to do in negotiating an end to the Russo-Ukrainian war or the resolutions declared and proclaimed by the United Nations that these are the big and important and historic forms of peacemaking while our calling people to repent of their sins and our confessing of our own sins to one another and our reconciliation with one another these are small insignificant forms of peacemaking and our but to think that way is a big mistake we are dealing with the root we have the real solution the gospel we're in the work of curative care really trying to cure the underlying disease they're in the work of palliative care managing pain without actually seeking to heal the underlying disease the work we are doing is of eternal significance because every human soul that you seek reconciliation and peace with is going to live forever and every single soul that repents of their sins and is thereby reconciled to God will live forever every person you talk to will either live forever in heaven or in hell depending on how they respond to the offer of peace that God has given us in

[28:37] Jesus Christ compared to that all the peacemaking work and the great diplomacy that is happening in place though not unimportant is of temporal significance because no nation state lasts forever every kingdom eventually falls every earthly kingdom this truth by the way is why Jesus and the Bible focus relentlessly on personal repentance and interpersonal reconciliation throughout gospels throughout scripture but they don't have much to say about ending wars and forming international treaties it's not that Jesus was unaware of geopolitical realities do you think that Jesus never heard of how King Herod the first tried to kill him by killing all the males under the age of two in Bethlehem so that they could eliminate him as a threat to his throne as the

[29:40] Messiah do you think Jesus was unaware of the extortionist tax burden that the Roman authorities placed on the Jews do you think he never heard about that from his disciples taxation without representation is tyranny right that was the slogan of the American revolution and these Jews had it worse they asked Jesus is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not and Jesus does not launch off into a speech about the political oppression and injustice of the Romans he says render to Caesar what is Caesar's render to God what is God's in Luke 13 when people tell Jesus about how Pilate the Roman governor when the Jews were offering their sacrifices these Galilean Jews he kills them and then he up mingles their blood with the sacrifices that they were making an atrocity blasphemy injustice and oppression we might expect Jesus to rise up with indignation and rally his followers and retrofit them with weapons and ride into Jerusalem on a stallion and overthrow the Roman empire but no he tells them unless you repent you all will likewise perish he always turns these things right back around to the people and to make it makes it an issue of personal repentance and their relationship with God think about that that's kind of a confusing response unless you understand the spiritual realities we're speaking of

[31:27] I've spent enough time defining and qualifying peacemaking let's get down to business nitty gritty details of what that looks like sorry the beatitude isn't blessed are the peace lovers or the peace talkers it's blessed are the peacemakers people who do peace first we must make peace in our relationships with our Christian brothers and sisters the Bible talks so often about this I could have spent the entire sermon just reading quote after quote after quote of this command I'll sample just a couple 2nd Corinthians 13 11 says aim for restoration comfort one another agree with one another live in peace and the God of love and peace will be with you Christians cannot accept conflict as a status quo we are commanded to aim for restoration we are commanded to agree with one another to live in peace over the last 10 years of church life

[32:42] I've had number of conflicts with people in church and one of the things that I'm very proud of of people in our church and people who are here is that we have walked through those things we did not sit in conflict we didn't let that conflict simmer and exist indefinitely we worked through those things and made peace peace and I've seen a number of believers do that in our church that passing the peace is not just a formality real making peace happens during that time it starts during those times and then it continues as conversations afterward be at peace among yourselves it says once again this doesn't mean to seek peace at the expense of God's revealed truth in scripture Paul acknowledges in 1 Corinthians 11 18 19 that there are divisions sometimes in church and that that exists he says I hear that there are divisions among you and I believe in in part for there must be factions among you in order to in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized sometimes there are divisions in church along the fault lines of truth to tell the genuine

[33:56] Christians apart from the false Christians counterfeit Christians that's inevitable if we stand for truth but as far as it depends on us we must aim for restoration within the community of Christians at peace we must seek to live in this peace we do that by being quick to hear and slow to speak and slow to anger for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God some of you sin more by being silent when you should speak others of you sin more like me by speaking when you should listen we learned from Titus 3 last week which said remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities to be obedient for every good work to speak evil of no one to avoid quarreling to be gentle and to show perfect courtesy toward all people we make peace by resolving to speak evil of no one do not speak with malicious intent about anyone to do damage to their reputation do not be quarrelsome and there's a difference between sincere debates and foolish controversies the former seeks truth the latter seeks self exaltation look at how intelligent

[35:24] I am look at how knowledgeable I am the former is substantive it deals with substance the latter deals with trivialities as Christians we already have the unity of the spirit that is a spiritual reality that God has brought about in his son Jesus Christ but then we are commanded to maintain the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace and we do that it says in Ephesians 4 2 3 by relating!

[35:52] with all humility and love this is the hard but important work of peacemaking in the context of the church second we must make peace with unbelievers as well Hebrews 12 14 says strive for peace with everyone not just with your brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus says later in Matthew 5 38 to 48 do not seek personal retribution he says do not resist the one who is evil but if anyone slaps you on the right cheek turn to him the other also he continues you have heard that it was said you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy but I say to you love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you so that you may be sons of your father who is in heaven for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good and sends rain on the just and on the unjust for if you love those who love you what reward do you have do not even the tax collectors do the same and if you greet only your brothers what more are you doing than others do not even the

[37:00] Gentiles do the same you therefore must be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect do you see the perils between this passage and the beatitude that we're looking at what is promised here blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called sons of God we find the same promise in this passage in Matthew 5 38 to 48 love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you in other words strive for peace even with those who oppose you your enemies so that you may be sons of your father who is in heaven the command to make peace is rooted in the promise of sonship the phrase son of dot dot dot or son of fill in the blank is a Hebrew idiom for example when Psalm 89 22 refers to the wicked it calls them literally sons of wickedness Proverbs 31 verse 5 describes those who are afflicted literally as sons of affliction Deuteronomy 3 18 describes the courageous people as sons of valor so sons of

[38:04] God are those who share God's spiritual nature why will peacemakers be called sons of God because their heavenly father is the God of peace and they attest to their sonship by their peacemaking our heavenly father loves his children in a special way but he also loves the world in a general way there is a such thing as common grace that is common to all of humanity he makes the sun rise and the rain showers fall on both the righteous and the wicked that's his love his kindness that no human being deserves likewise we should resemble our heavenly father by loving our enemies and praying for them by seeking their good and when you see an enemy passing by instead of giving them the cold shoulder you swallow your pride and you greet them when you see an opportunity to serve your enemy when they suffer you do good to them of course it's possible maybe even likely that they will not reciprocate it takes two parties to be reconciled even if we humble ourselves and love our enemies they might still be our enemies and hate us but we must still do our part the

[39:40] Bible is very realistic and practical about these things it's in Romans 12 14 to 21 bless those who persecute you and bless and do not curse them live in harmony with one another repay no one evil for evil if possible so far as it depends on you live peaceably with all beloved never avenge yourselves but leave it to the wrath of God for it is written vengeance is mine I will repay says the Lord to the contrary if your enemy is hungry feed him if he is thirsty!

[40:10] Give him something to drink for by so doing you will keep burning coals on his head do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good that's what it looks like to be peacemakers in an evil and unbelieving world we overcome evil with good and we leave the vengeance to God and then we live peaceably with all people believers and unbelievers as far as it depends on us if there's lack of peace in your relationship if there is lingering!

[40:38] conflict in your lives do not to make it because of you do everything you can to make peace but living like this is difficult cultivating poverty of spirit mourning and meekness and hunger and thirst for righteousness mercifulness and purity of heart so that we might be peacemakers is impossible apart from the peacemaking work that God has done for us in Jesus Christ that's why he is called the prince of peace our sonship to God and all sons and daughters all the children of God are called sons in scripture oftentimes because they are in Jesus Christ God's only son we are united to him by faith our sonship our heavenly inheritance our salvation they do not depend on how much peacemaking we do on earth John 1 11 to 13 says of

[41:41] Jesus this is how we become sons of God he came to his own and his own people did not receive him he is speaking of Jesus but to all who did receive him who believed in his name he gave the right to become children of God who were born not of blood nor of the will of the flesh!

[42:05] but by believing in Jesus Christ who is our peace but that but that then changes us in his famous book peace child I think many of you may have heard of this I've heard this illustration at least two sermons maybe three but I was surprised I never used it before missionary Don Richardson tells the story of his work as a missionary Don and Carol Richardson moved to New Guinea in 1962 to minister among the Sawi people and at the time the Sawi people were still isolated and untouched by the rest of the world and they were head hunting cannibals fascinated by the Richardsons it's a little scary the two rival Sawi tribes decided that they will move their villages right next to their jungle house so on opposite sides of the house were these two rival tribes of the

[43:06] Sawis and during their short time as missionaries there they witnessed bitter conflict and civil war between these two groups all the time and they say they witnessed 14 civil wars in a short period of time and despite their many attempts to share the gospel with them and to make peace these Sawi tribes did not respond to his gospel presentations and they continued to war against each other and at some point he was discouraged by failure of the gospel at the time and he didn't know how to present the gospel to them in a compelling way that they can understand and discouraged and fearful of the constant conflict around them they eventually decided okay we're going to pack up and leave this didn't work out and as they were trying to leave the tribes came to them and they told the couple if you'll stay we promise we'll make peace in the morning the next morning they witnessed most amazing ritual the two tribes lined up parallel to each other outside the home on either side of the clearing and then suddenly one man dashed into his own hut and grabbed his baby son and started sprinting toward the other side and then after him comes out his wife mourning and crying and weeping don't take them don't take him and the husband with agony in his face and anguish in his face keeps running and running he sprints and then he gets to the other side and gets the other tribe and he hands them his baby son and then as he says plead the peace child for me

[44:50] I give you my son and I give you my name moments later the ritual repeats itself from the other side another man dashes into his hut and grabs his baby son and runs!

[45:06] out and people try to catch him his wife tries to catch him and he can't catch him and he goes and gives the son over to the other tribe and says plead the peace child for me!

[45:17] I give you my son and I give you my name as long as these two children called the peace child the peace children remained alive there would be no war between these two tribes after they die is another story which is why they need the gospel because to wage war against each other is to wage war against your own Don Richardson at that moment realized I finally have a way to present the gospel to these tribe members in a way they can understand Jesus is the peace child Jesus is the peace child that God the father gave in his great love to make peace with his enemies to make peace with us

[46:24] Romans 5 tells that while we were enemies of God we were not at peace with God we were opposed to him we were hostile toward him we warred against him and rebelled against him and we resisted his rule and we fought him and resisted him and besmirched his good name and yet while we were enemies God sends his only son the son of God becomes the son of man takes on our human flesh to know our life so that he might bring peace to us and save us and lift us up to be sons of God Jesus dies on the cross the death that we deserve to die as rebels and as enemies of

[47:27] God instead Jesus dies and he pays the price and that's why he says that God broke down the dividing wall of hostility so making peace in Jesus Christ in his flesh making peace between God and man and making peace between Jews and Gentiles between every groups of people it's when we are born again by the Holy Spirit as children of God in this way that we love God and obey his commandments we begin to take on a family resemblance as we have the Holy Spirit in us as we are adopted into his family and that's why he says blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called sons of God the family resemblance of peacemaking because God the Father is a peacemaking God that family resemblance takes hold of us and we become!

[48:29] peacemakers and that family resemblance will be taken into account at the final judgment that's why he says they shall be called sons of God all this is from God he says in 2nd Corinthians 5 18-20 who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation that is in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself not counting their trespasses against them and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation therefore we are ambassadors for Christ God making his appeal through us we are all of us believers in Jesus Christ are ambassadors of reconciliation because God has reconciled us to himself in Jesus Christ we are all ambassadors of peace because God has made peace with us in Jesus Christ this is not what the world prizes our world is fascinated with warriors and conquerors not with peacemakers throughout history people who receive the greatest acclaim and the most laurels have not been peacemakers but the conquerors and the warriors in the absence of war it's the athletes because sports have early roots in combat and warfare in our world the warriors and conquerors are treated like sons of God they are reified and even deified and given their own statues in their honor and placed in the hall of fame but Jesus tells us blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called sons of God by following a crucified savior and by making peace all around us through humility and meekness we radically subvert the politics of power and dominion which rules our world that's the path of the cross and that is our path not the path of the revolution path of the cross let's pray together heavenly father how can it be that when all the fault lies with us all the sin lies with us that you took the initiative to make peace with us how can it be father that that you would give not just your things but your only son

[51:25]  Jesus Christ as a peace child so you might make us your children oh lord help us to never lose sight of your amazing grace and help us to take on more and more that family resemblance of peacemaking this world desperately needs it in Jesus name we pray amen I